Whimsy Stamps Holiday Release Blog Hop!

Good morning friends! I've got some exciting news to share with you...I was contacted by Denise, the very sweet owner of Whimsy Stamps, who invited me to be a guest for the Whimsy Stamps Holiday Release Blog Hop! May I just say how blessed and honoured I am to have the opportunity to join in with the fantastic Whimsy Stamps design team, as well as all the other lovely guests on the hop today. Thank you so much Denise!

Whimsy Stamps is releasing a lovely collection of rubber stamps to suit all your crafty needs this upcoming holiday season...and they are available for purchase today! To celebrate this release, Denise has put together a blog hop jam packed with gorgeous projects by some amazingly talented designers! So grab a cup of coffee or tea, put on some Christmas tunes and let's get this holiday hop started!

Did you arrive here after visiting the lovely Ann Vento? If not, then you will want to start the hop right from the beginning with Bev Rochester...then just follow the links along the way to visit the next participant in the hop! Oh, and you will want to make sure to leave comments along the way, as there will be some hidden prizes! (You can find a complete list of the blog hop participants at the Whimsy Inspirations Blog HERE.)

I had the opportunity to work with "Jingle Bell Ride" illustrated by the very talented artist Crissy Armstrong. I absolutely love the line of Carousel horses that Crissy has designed for Whimsy Stamps...they are gorgeous! I have a sweet spot for stamps featuring horses, as they have always been my favourite animal. (yes...I was your typical horse-crazy little girl!) I rode a lot as a teenager, worked at a barn and spent countless hours drawing horses...used to drive my art teacher nuts, as most of my projects featured them! lol The pretty vintage papers are from My Mind's Eye. The "frame" was cut out of metallic gold cardstock using Spellbinders Labels 10 . All papers were sponged with Black Soot Distress Ink. The Jingle Bell Ride stamp set comes with some fantastic accessory stamps and a few sentiments..."Merry Christmas" is one of them. What a gorgeous font! I used Spellbinders Fancy Tags and Petite Ovals Small for the sentiment. The gold scrolls behind the sentiment were cut using Spellbinders Doodle Parts.

"Jingle Bell Ride" was stamped on Neenah with Memento Ink and coloured with Copic markers. I also added additional shading with a black Conte crayon and paper blending stump. This helped to soften the look of the ink, as well as accentuate the "dappled" look that I first layed down with the markers. The furry collar, booties and poinsettias were given a coat of Stardust Stickles. The candy canes and bells were coated with Glossy Accents.

Copics: Horse: W1, W3, W5, W7 Mane, Tail and Hooves: C100, C7, C5, C3, B60 Pole and Bells: Y11, Y21, Y17, YR31, E33 Reds: R37, R46, R59, C5 Greens: G20, G82, G85, G99, C5 (YG00 and YG11 were also used on the leaves) Furry cuff: C1, C3, B60, colourless blender

You can see the glimmer from both the Stickles and metallic cardstock, as well as the shine from the Glossy Accents in this angled shot:

Remember that all the brand new stamps you will see on the hop today are now available for purchase at Whimsy Stamps! The hop will remain open until Thursday October 7, 2010 at 12:00 pm EST. All prize winners will be announced on October 7, 2010 after the hop closes.

Your next stop on the holiday hop is Debbie Eastman, who I know will have something stunning to share with you! Don't forget to leave those comments!

Have wonderful time on the hop today Whimsy fans, and thanks so much for stopping by!

Blessings,

Melanie

Stamps: Whimsy Stamps "Jingle Bell Ride"

Ink: Memento, Copic markers, Black Soot Distress Ink (also black Conte crayon)

Paper: My Mind's Eye (Holly Jolly), Bazzill, Neenah

Embellishments: Stardust Stickles, dollar store pearls, machine stitching

Tools: Spellbinders Labels 10, Fancy Tags, Petite Ovals Small, Doodle Parts